


A Breather

by PrettyMessedUpSituation (MarcelinesNightosphere)



Series: Drabbles and Ficlets from Prompts [14]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Brothers, Canon Era, Drabble, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-29
Updated: 2016-04-29
Packaged: 2018-06-05 04:05:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6688471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarcelinesNightosphere/pseuds/PrettyMessedUpSituation
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam and Dean take a break after a hunt in the California heat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Breather

**Author's Note:**

> For the first ColtsandQuills Challenge.   
> Prompt: Based on "Hotel California"  
> Keys: Something misplaced // A secret // Time’s running out  
> Challenge: Setting is outdoors.
> 
> Rebloggable version [here.](http://prettymessedupsituation.tumblr.com/post/142275118643/a-breather)

“We need to take more cases in California,” he said.

“Agreed,” his brother answered. “Nice change of pace.” He wiped his hand on his jeans, wet thanks to the condensation from the bottle. A slick sheen of sweat that had been present since breakfast started to disappear as the sun dipped down behind the distant hills. The drop in temperature was a welcome respite from the heat that had hung over them all day. Even though it was still ninety-some degrees, he shivered. 

The sky above them darkened. Slowly the stars became visible, by twos and threes while they reclined on the hood of the car in silence, still too hot for any deep conversation. With the back of his hand he wiped the sweat still beaded on his upper lip. Despite the satisfaction of a hard day’s work, an ache of disappointment still weighed heavy in his chest. His brother knew, but was kind enough not to let on or bring it up. A missing friend - a brother, a fellow hunter, their family - was in a place much more intolerable than this desert. It almost felt like a sin to enjoy a night of quiet under the stars. His mind and body begged for a break, and for once he couldn’t refuse it. The unfortunate truth was that Cas was fighting the battle alone for now, and there wasn’t much they could do until the devil turned up on their doorstep. They still had a lot of work to do on that end and no knowing when the timer would run out.

A light flickered on along the horizon, the gaudy red, pink, blue, and yellow of neon glowing against the dimming natural light. Sam hit Dean on the shoulder and lifted his chin.

“You want to go get a room for the night? Maybe get some decent sleep?”

Dean shook his head. “Not yet. Not sure I can move until it drops a few more degrees.”

Sam shrugged and turned his gaze back to the stars.

Dean couldn’t yet tell him about what waited at that distant motel along with the loud rattle of a half-working air conditioning unit and a bed with sheets that were a little too cheap and a little too starched. A vacant room with bottom shelf champagne in a futile bucket of ice and mirrors on the ceiling - a familiar scene to him no matter what town he happened to be passing through. But a nightmare lay in that siren’s call. The dreams of darkness enveloping him in spite of his dissent always came to him no matter how tired he was, the darkness calling to him in far away whispers.

He knew tonight would be no different, but he owed it to himself to try.

“Let’s hope this place has a shower and two _at least_ full size beds because in this heat, I’mma need to sprawl out,” Dean finally said.

Sam smiled. “I’d settle for a pillow.”


End file.
